Rabbi earns maiden call-up, Saifuddin returns to ODI squad

Bangladesh named a 15-member squad ahead of their three-ODI series against Zimbabwe, on Thursday (October 11). The matches will be held on 21, 24, and 26 October and will be followed by another two-match Test series.

The Tigers will not get the services of Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, as both of them are out due to injuries. Fazle Mahmud Rabbi, who has earned his maiden national call-up, has been selected to replace Shakib and Imrul has been included in the squad in place of Tamim.

With his brilliant all-round performance in Bangladesh A team’s tour of Ireland and another 195-run knock in the first round of the ongoing National Cricket League (NCL), Fazle caught the attention of many, while Imrul found a place in the squad because of his experience.

However, Soumya Sarkar has been left out of the squad along with Mominul Haque and Mosaddek Hossain after underperforming in the Asia Cup.

“We have included Rabbi as a replacement of Shakib Al Hasan because he can both bat and bowl left-arm spin and he is performing regularly in the domestic season. He also played well in the Ireland tour with Bangladesh A recently,” said chief selector Minhajul Abedin on Thursday.

“We opted for Imrul as Tamim is not around and so we need to have some experience,” Minhajul added, while also indicating that the door is still open for the likes of Soumya, Mominul, and Mossadek.

Mohammad Saifuddin has returned to the ODI squad after playing his last 50-over game against Sri Lanka earlier this year. According to the chief selector, Saifuddin has been recalled as he impressed the coach in the nets recently and as there is scarcity of a pace bowling all-rounder they are pinning their hope on the youngster.

Bangladesh also decided to carry on with untested Ariful Haque as he is also someone who can bat and bowl a few overs of medium pace. He was part of Bangladesh’s Asia Cup squad but did not find an opportunity to make his ODI debut.

“It is true that he did not manage to impress at the international stage but I am confident he had left those memories behind.

“Our head coach was impressed with him and we felt since we need a pace bowling all-rounder why not give him a try as we are still looking for someone who can bat down the order as well as bowl with good pace,” said Minhajul.

The rest of the squad remains the same as the Tigers’ squad in the Asia Cup, with Mashrafe Mortaza as captain.

The chief selector had earlier hinted that the 15-man squad could be trimmed to 13 at the beginning of the series in order to ensure enough game-time for the players as the fourth round of NCL will run at the same time.